Day 9 of Mosul Liberation Operations

On the ninth day of the offensive on Mosul, government forces and allied Kurdish Peshmerga fighters were still fighting their way towards the outer limits of the northern city on Wednesday (October 26), in the early stages of an assault which could become the biggest military operation in Iraq in over a decade.

One group of Peshmerga fighters was seen near Mafraq Azzawi, which lies between the villages of Bashiqa and Teiss Kharab.

As the forces advanced, two men from the Teiss Kharab village handed themselves over to the Peshmerga forces. It is unclear what the men were accused of.

About 90 ISIS-held villages and towns around Mosul have been retaken so far in the offensive, according to statements from the Iraqi army.

The distance from the front lines to the city ranges from just a couple of kilometres in the east, to 30 kilometres (nearly 20 miles) in the south.